“I knew I would have found you here” Said a familiar voice behind you. You didn’t need to turn to know who just spoke. 

“Aren’t you busy with the impending war?” You ask with a half grin. He just sighed, kneeling beside you. 

“Unfortunately yes, but I wanted to show you something” You tilted your head toward him. Now that you looked at him, he was holding a strange apparatus “Thought you could like it.” 

You had a lot of questions, but only one was able to make it out of your mouth. 

“What the heck is that thing?” Your face astonished while he just smiled. 

“Wings.” He stated, as if it was completely normal. 

“Wings?” You repeated, even more confused. He just nodded, his smile grew bigger. 

“You know” He started, eyes shining from excitement and you knew you were in for an engineering lesson, not that you minded, as long as you were able to see Kitay’s bright smile “Rin can’t fight Feylen from here, and I could certainly not build a weapon able to kill a God, so what if she can fight him on his same ground?” You tilted your head, trying to understand better. 

“You mean these things will make her…” “Fly.” He stated, as if it was the most normal thing. “I mean I studied the birds’ physionomy, and if you add a bit of simple physics to create an appropriate upward movement and stay in air for an adequate time, I should have adjusted the lift and drag with some easy math, so everything should be okay for a flight”

You looked at him in desbeliefìf and admiration. His eyes shined brighter and it seemed like a weight got off his shoulders while he was talking about his studies. Suddenly you could almost see the bright scholar he could have become at Yuelu Mountain, if only he would have been allowed to study there, instead of wasting his potential in destroying cities he could have used it to develop your country. You knew deep in his heart Kitay still wants that, sometimes you had caught yourself getting lost in his eyes, how they were always telling more than what he was saying, after each battle his gaze was darker and lost, every time he thought no one was watching those eyes were shiny from tears not cried and guilt, in his eyes you could see that he understands you better than anyone else. 

And maybe it was mutual, because he seemed to be there when you needed him the most and you were there for him when he couldn’t bear the bitter reality unfolding in front of you. Like now, on the Red Cliffs, away from those mad warmongers. 

“So why have you brought those wings here?” “To make you fly.” You were in utter disbelief and your face should have been really funny ‘cause Kitay started laughing. 

“What? There’s absolutely no way I will fly, how can that even work?” You protest, still astonished and confused. Kitay looked a bit hurt but he just nodded, like he expected that reaction. 

“I mean I don’t want to force you, but they’re safe I swear, this project is made up for you, Rin can produce flames but I had to change it for you to fly, I took all the precautions—” 

“Wait, you made that for me?” You abruptly interrupted him and for once you were able to leave Kitay without words. You stared at him, red creeping up his cheeks and neck, his mouth open trying to form a coherent sentence, and it was so different from the cold strategist and logical Kitay you were getting used to that your chest felt warmer and suddenly you felt the need to hug him. 

So you did. 

He probably didn’t expect it, took by surprise he let the wings go, throwing his arms around your waist, trying to catch you before the two of you inevitably fell to the ground, your laugh loud and clear. 

“Kitay, you’re really amazing” You laughed, your breath warm on his flushed cheeks and his smile grew bigger on his lips, ears red. You couldn’t know it, but Kitay got lost in your laugh, his chest warmer as he forgot for a moment all the wars that were coming your way, it was as if only you existed in that moment for him, happy and carefree. And he swears he wanted it to last forever. 

“So are you willing to try to fly?” He asked, unsure of your answer, while helping you to get up. Your head just tilted to the side, like thinking one last time about it, and then you nodded. 

“I trust you” You stated and it was true. Kitay had always helped you in the past, he was there for you when nobody else got time to waste for you, when you were left to yourself he was always able to find you out, he was the only one who could understand you with just one look, the one who listened you rumbling about your worries, even when they were dangerous thoughts for a soldier. And so you realised that if there was one person you trusted with all of you, that was Chen Kitay. 

His eyes widened, as if he couldn’t believe you agreed, but at the same time a sense of relief passed through him as he murmured a thank you under his breath. He took the wings in his hands, helping you to wear them and you could notice the complicated metal gears and the leather membrane with some pockets coated with a dark oily liquid and some other closed bags. 

“The wings are designed to fly for thirty minutes maximum, but maybe for the first take off ten minutes will be enough. I’ll light up the oil, it will produce enough hot air for the lift, while you can use the drag to change your speed, since well you can’t control the fire that will just burn, and for the landing when you’re close enough to the ground pull this cord and it will release sand to extinguish the fire, got it?” You looked at him mesmerised, mouth open while trying to make a point of all the information he just gave you, praying to remember everything. 

And while he continued with some last explanations and check-ups you worked out three things: one, Kitay was an absolute genius; two, he made it all of that for you; three, you just wanted to jump on him and hug him again, and you would have done so if it wasn’t for the apparatus fixed on your arms and upper body. So you just stood there, biting your lips trying to suppress a smile while he proudly looked at his invention walking slowly away from you, to take a full look at your figure. 

“You good? Still in time to rethink about it” He checked, but you nodded again. 

“I’m ready, what was that? Fly or die?” His brows knitted in confusion “I don’t think it was like that, but we’ll make it work” He chuckled, trying to ease the tension, and you thanked him for that. 

“Remember what I told you and everything will be fine, okay?” “Okay” You breathed out, tense, as he lit up the oil, and you felt the membrane swell with hot air while you approached the end of the cliff. 

You left a last breath out and closed your eyes. You trusted Kitay but before jumping you had one last thing to tell him, just in case. 

“Be sure that if I die here, I will come back just to hunt you for the rest of your days” 

And so you jumped. 

The first thought was that you should have never trusted Kitay. The sense of emptiness in your stomach made you want to throw up or scream, maybe both, but you could do none of that. 

The second thing you felt was a harsh pull on your arms when the membrane collided with the air and you were sure you would have died soon. 

Lastly you realised that you weren’t going down anymore. The pitch in your stomach stopped, and you had to force your arms down to resist the air and so you were going up. 

You opened your eyes slowly. It was beautiful, sure if you were to stand on your legs right now they would probably give up but luckily you were, well, you were flying. 

You bursted out laughing, oh how much you loved Kitay, this was amazing. The wind on your face, air in your ears, it was just you, far from everything, far from every arm, every war, you were above all of it, and just for a little you thought you could be free. Mind running wild, as you flew over Arlong, over Red Cliffs, and it was so mesmerising that the war you were fighting seemed even more stupid in front of all that freedom and beauty. 

Time passed and when you turned toward the spot Kitay was, you saw him waving his arms, and you knew it was time to go back to reality. You closed your eyes, tasting one last time the feeling, before starting to think about how to do the landing. Which appeared to be more complicated than it appeared. 

And so you did land, collision with ground harder than expected, legs numb, finding yourself rolling to the ground cover in sand as at least you managed to extinguish the fire. 

Kitay ran towards you worried, while you were taking the wings out, removing the locks he closed earlier. When you managed to get out of that amazing work of his, you nearly jumped up, legs still weak, but you didn’t need to stand up on yourself more than the time it took to wrap your arms around his neck, and this time he was ready to catch you. 

His hands warm on your waist, as your breath came out sharp and fast, your cheeks red, hair messed up from the wind and sand over you, eyes wide, still high from the excitement. 

“Everything is fine?” He asked, making sure you were not injured from the rough landing. You just looked at him in the eyes, shocked he even asked, and you laughed. 

“Kitay, are you for real? That was amazing!” And so you just hugged him tighter “I love you so much” You mumbled without even thinking about it, face pressed between his neck and shoulder, you couldn’t see his face. 

He stilled for a moment and said nothing, but his grip on you got firmer and an endearing smile appeared on his lips. Kitay didn’t need words, not when after everything he already did to you, he built wings only for you, to make you fly away, to give you that freedom you deserved. 

“I love you too” Kitay didn’t need words, still he hummed those words out, just yours to ear. 

however YEAH I AGREE. I have to admit that I never liked jiang much, especially when we found out about hanelai, and then how he never really helped altan or rin (unless at the very end, and rin well - maybe spoiler!!! there's a theory which said that she's his daughter with hanelai) so I always saw him as a coward. he's a really complex and well written character and I really appreciated him for that.

BUT SU DAJI. I was so sad for the trifecta end because of her like I NEED TO KNOW MORE. WHAT WAS HER RELATIONSHIP WITH RIGA? WITH JIANG? WHAT DID SHE THINK WHEN SHE SAW RIGA AWAKEN AGAIN? AND KNEW IT WAS HER FAULT???